Curetis, the enigmatic Sunbeams.

[Psyche]

Curetis, one of the Curetes, guardians and nurses of the infant Zeus, whose father Cronus devour his offsprings to prevent any from taking over his place.

The bulis group.
The bulis group have fine black dots speckling the ground colour.
There four species.
28870
Curetis bulis.
Bulis, a minor character in Greek mythology.
FW postdiscal band oblique.
UnH with postdiscal spot 7 large and convex, spot 6 small and under it.
Submarginal spot 6 and 7 aligned end to end though may not be in a straight line4.
UpH black basal area in space 6 longer than 1/2 the space length.
Female black and white.
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847201403
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847201365
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847199200


Curetis santana.
Sanskrit santana -descendants.

UnF postdiscal band oblique.
Male FW orange rounder.
UpH black basal area less than 1/2 of space 6.
UnH postdiscal spots 6 and 7 straighter and in line.
UnH submarginal spots 6 & 7 out of lie/dislocated.
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847199181
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847201280
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/4137589007


Curetis felderi.
After Felder.

Uperside orange extensive on both wings, barely any black basal area.
FW band oblique.
UnH postdiscal spot 7 large ,often concave,spot 6 variable ,smaller.
Submarginal spots 6 & 7 dislocated.
Palpi white and unspotted.
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847199212
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847199209


Curetis sperthis.
Sperthis latinised person's name, Sperth.

FW band parallel to margin, variable, sometime appear partial or bent out.
UpH with costa & often space 7 wholly black.
UnH postdiscal spot 6 & 7 in line.
Submarginal spots 6 & 7 also in line.
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847201254
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847201258
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847201262
Variants with only the costa black.
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847199180
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847199180

[Psyche]

Two decades ago, the late Sunny Chir have an intriguing pic of a female Curetis that is marked as in C. saronis but seem to be marked with dark specks.
Unfortunately I have not been able to trace this although I think I kept a shot of it.

A recent observation seem remarkably similar .
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/256536296
Correction: This image is actually male..
The FW band is sort of bent slightly to be parallel to the margin.
The black dotd are rather sparse but those at the bases of FW space 1b, 2-5 looks similar.
These black dots can be sparse in some cases.
eg below.
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847199185

In comparison C. saronis have a relatively clean look.
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847201224
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847201221
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847201227
https://www.butterflycircle.com/checklist/mugshots/Curetis%20saronis%20sumatrana/Sumatran-Sunbeam.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpk2N-GcDYp_D9bEUGFf11Wosl3fMaUBAT3BwIRdxTi2OIrfiq78HlCI iaTOvk8gHCQl3MqO9okMjGQrBzYPzXm6dBagP1efE5Q0VcnjOW MqaJk337M48i8OP8M7XCOjuLh84gIepZxJo/s1600/SumatranSunbeamM-KSK.jpg

TLSeow: Cheers.

[Psyche]

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/181209566

This observation is almost certain to be a male Curetis sperthis.
It have the following characters.
1. The ground is finely speckled with black dots.
2. The FW band is set very close and mostly parallel to the margin.
3The HW postdiscal spots 6 & 7 are in line; likewise submarginal spots 6 & 7 are in line.

Compare with a standard C. sperthis male below it is a very good match.
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847201254


TL Seow: Cheers.

Added.
1.This looks to be a female C. sperthis.
The markings are that of the bulis group.
The FW band is parallel to the margin and the ground appeared speckled.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/240038746511844/posts/2069274846921549/

2. Male C. sperthis.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/77600294@N07/48946821143

[Psyche]

The thetis group comprise three species, C. saronis, tagalica and regula.

The species have a clear ground with lunulate postdiscal spots that runs parallel to the FW margin. Their patterns can merge into one another and can be very confusing.
All three species were recorded in Singapore .
The first two species are probably still extant.
28871

Curetis saronis.

Saronis :Greek Goddess Artemis was provided a sanctuary by King Saron. In doing so she also acquired the surname Saronis.

This is the most frequently seen species.
UnH with postdiscal spot 6 basad (shifted inwards towards base)of spot 7, and just clear of spot 5.
Lunules (striae) usually poorly shaded.
Legs banded red/orange or red-brown.
Female orange patch square-ended.
https://yutaka.it-n.jp/lyc3/84090020.html
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847201227
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847199184
Male. Singapore
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpk2N-GcDYp_D9bEUGFf11Wosl3fMaUBAT3BwIRdxTi2OIrfiq78HlCI iaTOvk8gHCQl3MqO9okMjGQrBzYPzXm6dBagP1efE5Q0VcnjOW MqaJk337M48i8OP8M7XCOjuLh84gIepZxJo/s1600/SumatranSunbeamM-KSK.jpg
Females.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggcDk9qF1hzSZu7sE5-MgnRfn6-lrMMkpH2jogfAEFJi_xDeXxLmgDcgm03cXD0Q15EmpvSmiDNOi hWJ_E7GzGU6SFDUdZD0eXSKozrA7skf2dYmoMyPkm2HkLOQXHu ijQgXyFN_3ByE0/s1600/SumatranSunbeam-SunnyC2.jpg
https://www.butterflycircle.com/checklist/mugshots/Curetis%20saronis%20sumatrana/Sumatran%20Sunbeam%20-%20Anthony.jpg



Curetis tagalica.

Tagalica. Latinised, the Tagala region of the Philippines.

Unh postdiscal spot 6 is basad of spot 7 and well clear of spot 5.
Spots typically moderately shaded, heavy in some regions eg Borneo.
Legs banded black or dark brown (Fleming.).
Male HW shaded brown inner margin.
Female FW orange patch elliptic.
https://yutaka.it-n.jp/lyc3/84110010.html
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847201233
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847201237
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847201234
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847201238
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847201222
P.Malaysia.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii3P-jdSG4W3uSOlpnDsVdU39NKgPpOAfQA0gnSkMU6KoH7QpbBKh-JQH-Lanxmb0zhxHKyVSiiNbTvSpB2yZQ7HX2a9zPLkga6nD0Obs9zQ BMSHOO1ya9m0rxQdRVdsM_EKdfi1d9i68/w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu/DSC_0010.JPG
Thailand.
https://res.cloudinary.com/ppc1/image/upload/v1684315543/nrhwjmki0zyiqplculjz.jpg

There is great variations in the indentation of the HW band and the leg colouration.
There were past observations of individuals with black or grey banded legs.
C. saronis also have forms with darker redbrown leg bands.
It is possible that crossing have results in a lot of confusing forms.
As the HW band indentations can be very similar , especially between C. saronis & tagalica, the leg band colour is the main ID clue.
Probably C. tagalica.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQz9seI1c3tWEW31_CsBUNBkAfJFANa1eVWMi4ORm0PO jF25d8G8xZYfiY16vz9e0g4cZ66QXPXCkHS2Vng26vdxZpYvwg Pi6yDSFf9OBSapTo6bK2xLxOIGvXD_xedA757d7l3SyoOkY/s1600/SumatranSunbeam2-FedHo.jpg
https://www.butterflycircle.com/checklist/mugshots/Curetis%20saronis%20sumatrana/Sumatran%20Sunbeam%20-%20Nelson%20Ong.jpg
Very likely. Correction:ID certain.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/256929573



Curetis regula.

regula ; regular ,refering to the band being much less crooked.

UnH postdiscal spot 6 usually level with spot 7 and just clear of spot 5.
Spots often heavily shaded giving a continuous appearance.
Legs banded black.
Female FW orange elliptic.
https://yutaka.it-n.jp/lyc3/84100001.html
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847199187
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847199191
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847201285
https://thaibutterflies.com/Butterflies/curetis-regula/


There is no observation to suggest that C. regula is still extant in Singapore.


TL Seow: Cheers.